Search: “sti”

This is todays B-Side. It was a bit difficult at first to choose between the 2 pictures but in the end I dropped this one because it didn’t contain as many interesting elements as the other one. I also prefered the purple hues of the chosen picture combined with the greeness of the metals. This B-Side had a lack luster color combination.

Click here to see todays picture on Miskan.com

Now this is a logo done right. Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait recently rebranded and its pretty obvious its a way better logo then BKME‘s. The new BBK logo is visually attractive and friendly. The logo is very simple and clean and can easily be distinguishable from the competition. The color choice of blue is a common one among banks here in Kuwait but the addition of the 2 orange tones help differentiate it from the rest. I think at the moment, BBK has one of the nicest logos among the local banks. What I am wondering now is if Commercial Bank of Kuwait will be re-branding. There current logo was designed by a Pentagram, a world renowned agency. Actually I think I will post about that tomorrow. For more information on the BBK rebranding click here. I am not sure but I believe the BBK logo was done by Artograph in bahrain.

Ok, so there is a new PS3, there is the Xbox360, the Nintendo Revolution and the Game Boy Micro. They are all amazing systems and as I told Nibaq, I will need to start saving up so I can buy them all. I just watched the PS3 duck technical presentation and it was good except I wanted to watch the Motor Storm video (check this: 1 and 2). I am also downloading the Dead or Alive 4 video, its 470MB but here are some screenshots for those of you with slow connections. Some cool games are coming out on the DS, Castlevania is one and its in 2D thank god. Sonic is the other game, the cool thing about sonic is the way it uses the 2 screens, click here to see what I mean. Finally I was hoping to see screenshots of GTA for the PSP but all I was able to find was this write up.

I think the next generation of systems is going to be really kick ass. I don’t have a favorite yet, each has its own advantage and thats why I will probably get them all.

I just got home from Star Wars, its 12:30AM. Yeah the movie started at 12:00AM but it was such a fucked up experience. From what I saw of the movie though, it was looking REALLY good, like REALLY good, BUT the Marina Mall theater is just terrible.

The issue I had was with the sound. The first 15 minutes of the movie was this huge gigantic space battle with explosions and chaos non stop. The sound though was incredibly low and was coming out of the front speakers only. I swear I could hear the guy next to me eating his popcorn! I told Nat we should just leave, she suggested I should tell someone. So I did, I went up to one of the movie ushers and told him to raise the volume, he went and told some Kuwaiti guy who was sitting watching the movie with us. He went out and came back in a minute later but the sound was still the same. So I told Nat lets leave, I wasn’t going to watch the movie like this. So we got up and left, once we reached the main entrance where we got the tickets from, I saw a guy who looked like management, I asked him who I should I ask a refund from. He looked at the tickets and told me that once the tickets were cut that I couldn’t get a refund. He didn’t bother to ask why I wanted a refund or why I looked pissed and wanted to leave, nothing. So I proceeded to tell him that I paid KD5 to watch Star Wars and you can’t expect me to watch it in a theater where the sound system is lower then mine at home. I told him the sound is too low and I already complained about it and no one did anything. He told me that no one had told him about the sound, he assured me he would fix it and told me to go back to my seat. So I did. I got back inside, by now I had already missed a good chunk of the movie but I was like its ok, at-least the sound will get fixed. It never did! It didn’t get louder and it didn’t go into surround.

Finally we decided fuck the refund, lets just get out of here. If the movie when action packed was low and imagine how a normal scene would be. When I got back up to the main entrance, I took a feedback form, filled it in and dropped it in the feedback box. I don’t know if anyone will read it or care, but I just had to do it. Now I am back home, disappointed and pissed off. The Marina Mall cinema totally ruined my movie rush. I was planning to start booking tickets online and make this a weekly thing but now I don’t think I will since its just better off watching a movie at home on my sound system.

What did I learn today? Marina Mall theater is one of the worst I have ever been to, and that KD1 for a large popcorn at the cinema doesn’t seem expensive after passing by Starbucks first.

To read the letter I emailed to the people in charge click on more

As I promised, here is an example of a picture of the day before post processing. Here is the post on miskan.com with the picture post processed. I still need to post a guide on good post processing but I have been really busy.

My previous Oakley’s broke a few weeks ago, the model was Minute Black with Black Iridium lenses and the rate of transmission of the lens was only 10%. Since there is a volleyball tournament tomorrow I decided I needed to get new shades. I found some really cool ones in the market, my favorite was the Oakley XX model, but the problem was I only found it in Metallic Black with Black Iridium Polarized lenses. Polarized lenses are really expensive and add up to the price of the shades. The XX model I saw cost KD60 which was over my KD50 budget I had set. My previous Minute’s only cost me KD33 and I was hoping to find something just a bit more expensive. So I kept looking for a non polarized version which would bring the price down under KD50 but I couldn’t find any. So I ditched the XX model and spotted the Straight Jacket version which was Black and used a Gold Iridium lens. I think the golden lens gives me the adventurer type of guy look which goes pretty well with Nats Jeep. The price was KD40 which was under my KD50 budget and so I got them. When I put them on outside in the car I noticed a problem though. Everything around me was yellow. When I tried it in the store I hadn’t noticed it but outside it became pretty obvious. I hate the yellowish tint and it fucks with my eyes color balance. The rate of transmission is decent though at 12%, not better then my older lenses but still good enough. Hopefully this yellow tint crap issue is only temporary and I won’t notice it once I get used to it. Oh one thing I noticed, Perla Nera is too expensive. The same shades I got for KD40 they were selling it for KD46! Rippoffs..

In the past 2 days I have been getting comments in an old post about Prince Naseem’s Mercedes SLR Crash. The comments are from people talking about Prince Naseem and his cousin and some stories and stuff. But the conversations sound strange, and why are they posting in my blog you know? I think I read about something like this before though. They spam conversations on a subject to get a higher rank in google or something.. I don’t know just see this for yourself. [Link]

Over a year ago I purchased a trackball mouse to use at home. Because my desk at home was small, whenever I was using the computer my wrist would start to really hurt because my hand was always half dangling off the desk and I was always positioned in a very anti-ergonomic position.

I did some research and in the end I decided to go with the Kensington Orbit Optical. The reason I went with Kensington was because of the way the trackball is shaped and because it uses optics. The shape of the trackball allows me to rest my wrist onto it and allows me to control the ball with my fingers. The use of optics allows the trackball to be extremely accurate and very easy to roll. The Kensington trackball also came with PC and Mac drivers.

The first question people ask is, so is it really better then a regular mouse? The simple answer is no. The trackball works differently from a regular mouse. When you spend years working with a mouse and then move to a trackball, the change takes getting used to. I use the trackball at home but not at work. The reason is I can control the mouse better then the trackball, and this is after using the trackball nightly for over a year. The mouse is just more natural to me and the speed and accuracy I work with the mouse I can not get with the trackball. But, I didn’t get the trackball because its a better tool then the mouse. I got the trackball because my wrists were hurting me, and because of the trackball I don’t have that problem anymore.

The trackball is very comfortable to use. Very comfortable. You don’t have to move your hand or wrist when using it, just your fingers. I work on the computer all day at work and by the time I get home my wrists are hurting. Using the trackball at home allows me to recover while still using the computer. It really makes a big difference, since I have gotten the trackball at home I have never had any wrist issues.

How is the actual Kensington trackball? Its great, if you want a trackball this is the one to get. Amazon have it for only $25. Thats really cheap. Unlike normal trackballs this has an optical sensor which means its ultra accurate and is dust and dirt proof. The trackball is very smooth, the form is ultra comfortable. The size is nearly twice the size of a normal mouse. The dark grey area you see in the pictures is actually a rubbery material. The trackball comes with a USB to PS2 adapter for those of you who dont have a free USB port.

I just ordered and received my second Orbit trackball a few days ago. The reason is my first one got worn out. The rubber feet under the trackball got unstuck, the rubber wrist rest started peeling, and the whole thing started looking.. aged. So I went and ordered another one and it feels really good.

I will give this trackball a 4 out of 5. When comparing the trackball to a mouse if just comes down to how comfortable the person is with each. This review is of the Kensington Orbit Trackball, and as a trackball this is just really hard to beat. I have used the Logitech optical marble mouse but the shape and feel of it is just terrible compared to this. And for only $25 is really a steal.

Yesterday night when WordPress 1.5.1 got released, I downloaded and upgraded 2:48AM to it. Everything is running smoothly except for one minor issue I have. When people comment on 2:48AM I get an email with the name of the person who commented under name, and the title of the email would be related to the post. After upgrading to 1.5.1 I get an email still but the name is now (unknown sender). I don’t know where I went wrong with the upgrade or if this is connected to my skin. But it sucks!

update: just tried it with 2 different skins, same problem. Must mean I messed up witht he upgrade somewhere…

Yesterday I had dinner at Fuddruckers with Nataly. I usually order the burger but yesterday I realized they had a Chilidog sandwich, so I went ahead and ordered that. I am not a super freak chili dog fan or anything, but I do occasionally enjoy having one whenever I need to divert off my burger diet. My favorite chili dog place used to be A&W where I experienced my first chili dog with them as a kid and continued to have and enjoy even after I grew up. My second favorite place is Hardees which at the moment is actually my favorite since A&W closed down in Kuwait.

So how did the Fudds chili dog turn out? Well the first thing you will notice is thats its mother fucking huge! In the picture you might think the hotdog bun is actually small and the hotdog big but in reality the hotdog bun is big and the hotdog is huge! I didn’t know you could get hotdogs that big. The chilidog was a bit awkward to eat but not as awkward as I was expecting and in the end didn’t really get that much chili all over my hands. The hotdog bun was soft and delicious, definitely my favorite part of the meal. The hotdog meat itself tasted good and wasn’t very soft like the Hardees hotdog, which is a good thing. The chili on the other hand was the disappointing part. It was just very so so. Firstly the chili sauce had beans in it which I wasn’t expecting. Secondly the chili flavor was very bland. I really wasn’t tasting that much chili when I was eating the hotdog. The dish came with the Fudds traditional fries and a terrible cup of coleslaw. The cost of the dish was KD2.500 which is pretty decent but doesn’t really compete to the 400fils chilidog at Hardees.. not that I am comparing the two. Hardees is a fast food joint while Fudds is more of a restaurant. But personally I prefer the Hardees chilidog over the Fudds and thats why this gets a score of 3.5 out of 5.

update: Since I wrote this review a year ago I have had this chilidog a lot. If was to review it again I would have to give it a 4 out of 5. I finally figured out how to eat it for one thing.. I now use a fork and knife, its the easiest and least messiest way. Also I think I now prefer it over Hardees, although Hardees still has the prive advantage in its favor.

Remember I posted about the Pope’s Golf being sold on ebay? Well it got sold for $243,000!

This photo was taken with a hidden camera at Moyie Springs, Northern Idaho. The owner of property noticed foot tracks some weeks earlier and set camera up in tree along path of tracks. This picture was taken from that camera mounted in the tree. It seems that the Bigfoot took a bite of the red fir tree bark. In the original that I have you can clearly see a piece of bark in the air. I circled the bark in the photo.

This is the only close up photo of Bigfoot that I have ever seen. Very large body and face. The original shows the face and teeth in great detail. Very large mouth and teeth. Not sure of the date. I was told a few years ago. There have been many sighting of Bigfoot in the Northern Idaho area near the Canadian border. Very rugged landscape with many mountains. [via]

No celebrity blogger attended the monthly blogger meetup. The idea of a celebrity blogger was made up to create hype and attract people to the meeting. There is no celebrity blogger and thats why no one is saying who it was. The hype worked though, 4 people attended the meeting this time!

Interesting quotes from the bloggers who attended the meeting:

Forzaq8: “and the mystery blogger , who is way too scared about privicy , i have no idea how he agreed to come”

Purgatory72: “Now, the mystery blogger showed up somewhere around 6.45 pm. I was surprised to see him, I thought it was a hoax, but turned out to be true. The guy was very nice and articulate and was also famous. Now because of private matters related to the person himself, I cannot say anything more on how he looks like, which blog is his blog”

Here is a conversation between me and Nibaq:
Me: So who was the celebrity blogger?
Nibaq: Can’t tell you
Me: Ok, I figured it out, will post about it
Nibaq: what you going to post? a CSI type thing?

Update: More proof it was a fake. On forza’s blog he posts two pictures from the meetup, one of someone shaking hands with the mystery blogger and the other of the mystery blogger signing a book. He then says that after the handshake the mystery blogger signed the book. BUT, according to the pictures exif information, the first picture of the handshake was taken at 8.21pm while the second of the signing was taken at 8.18pm. Interesting..

Update 2: This is an enhanced crop taken from one of Forzaq8’s pictures. It supposingly the signature of the mystery blogger. Looks like gibrish to me.

Update 3: Further investigation has revealed the both of Forza’s pictures were taken with the exact same settings:

Yet one turned out ot be extremely blurry while the other was fine, as if when shooting the signature picture the camera was deliberately shaken. Also according to the pictures and my personal experience of the Second Cup branch in Kuwait City, the place inside isnt very dark and according to the shadows on the open book, there was a light source right above they area they were seated. So I believe if the Apreture was set to 2.8 instead of 5.2 (which the Sony P8 cam can handle) and the shutter speed increased then there would have been no chance of the picture coming out blurry, specially since the camera iso was set at 320. By default the camera would have changed the apreture to 2.8 when the shutter speed became very slow but they wanted the picture to come out blurry so they manually changed the settings.

When I was in university I used to enjoy designing CD covers for my friends remix albums. My dream was when I graduate I would continue doing CD and poster designs for chillout CDs. Since I graduated though I haven’t done any.. until now. I have to design a CD and Tape cover for a very famous local singer. The problem? I have to stick with a picture of the musician (that he chose) on the main cover, I have to stick a ton of pictures of the musician and his friends on the inside, I have to use gold AND I have to do all this by Saturday. I met the singer yesterday he was cool, and this project is interesting because its for a famous singer and it will be everywhere when done. But, I don’t think there is much I can do design wise and the fact that its due on Saturday means I have to rush this.. I wish I had more time for this..

I don’t get zits too often but I do get them. I usually get them after consuming large amounts of chocolate and last week me and nat finished a super sized nutella jar by ourselves. So, now I have a zit on my forehead and its been there for 2 days already. Anyone got any tips on how to get rid of one quickly? When I was in highschool in Canada (1994) I used to get a lot of zits and I used to use Oxy products to help get rid of them. But it would still have taken 5 days to vanish a zit. With todays technology I am hoping there is something faster like a pill you take and 6 hours later the zits are gone. Is there such a thing?